Device for filling and sealing flexible containers

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a tubular valve used to fill and seal inexpensive, disposable, inflatable containers such as pillows and the like. Sealing of this valve is accomplished by folding it to collapse its walls.

O United States Patent [151 3,638,253

Stumpf 1 Feb. 1, 1972 [54] DEVICE FOR FILLING AND SEALING Refel'flmsCited FLEXIBLE CONTAINERS UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventor: Paul R.Stumpf, Menasha, Wis. 2,864,201 12/1958 Leise ..46/90 [73] Assignee:Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, it

Wis.

[22] Filed: Sept, 11, 1969 Primary ExaminerB0bby R. Gay

Assistant ExaminerAndrew M. Calvert [211 APPl- 857,041 Att0rneyWolfe,Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd.

52 us. Cl ....5/337, 5/348, 251/4 [571 ABSTRACT [5 I 1 "A47c 27/08 Thereis disclosed a tubular valve used to fill and seal inex pen [58] FlQld0f Search ..l37/223; 251/4, 46/90, sive disposable inflatable containerssuch as Pillows and the like. Sealing of this valve is accomplished byfolding it to collapse its walls.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR FILLING AND SEALING FLEXIBLECONTAINERS This invention relates to devices for filling and sealinginflatable fluid containers and, more particularly, to tubular valvesfor inflating and sealing low-cost, disposable pillows and the like.

Conventional pillows filled with feathers, down, synthetic fibers, latexfoam rubber and the like are provided by the hundreds of thousands bypublic institutions, such as schools and hospitals, and by publiccarriers, such as airlines and railroads, to the public each day. Eachpillow represents a capital investment of at least several dollars thatmust be protected, stored, and inventoried. In addition, hygienedictates that the outer covering must be removed after each use andreplaced with a clean covering. The used or soiled covering being eitherdiscarded or sent to a laundry for washing.

It is therefore not surprising that recently hospitals, schools,railroads, airlines, and the like have begun to use inflatable,disposable pillows. These pillows have several advantages over theconventionally stuffed pillow stemming from the fact that they areeither disposed of or taken by the user when he leaves the plane, train,bus, hospital, etc. They eliminate the need for separate pillow slips orcoverings and, hence, also the need for either replacing or launderingthese pillow slips or coverings. As they are inexpensive they eliminatethe need for investing in and preserving a large stock of pillows. Sincethey can be stored deflated and inflated just prior to use they occupyless space during storage. In addition, these disposable, inflatablepillows may also be imprinted with a particular design so that whencarried away by the user, either in an inflated or deflated state, froma bus, train, or plane they may serve as a means for publicizing thebusline, railroad, airline, etc. Such pillows are conventionallyconstructed of a bladder covered with a soft absorbent material.

A valve used for inflating, or deflating and sealing a disposable pillowshould be inexpensive, easy to use when either inflating or deflatingthe pillow, and, most importantly, should provide an airtight seal ofthe pillow. Heretofore, two-piece valves consisting of a valve stem andeither a cap or plug such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,343have been used. The principal disadvantage with this construction isthat the cap or plug, being a separate piece, can be easily lost ormislaid rendering the valve useless for sealing purposes.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide animproved valving device for disposable, inflatable pillows that affordsboth easy inflation or deflation of the disposable pillow and, yet,provides a complete seal for the disposable pillow once it has beeninflated.

Another object is to provide a valving device for a disposable,inflatable pillow that is reusable so that the user can unseal thepillow, deflate it, transport it elsewhere, reinflate it, reseal it anduse it again with a minimum of difficulty.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a onepiece valvingdevice for a disposable, inflatable pillow that can be manufactured at anominal cost.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the followingdescription proceeds, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a disposable, inflatable pillow includingthe valving device of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 except the valve is shown in a folded orcollapsed position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the valving deviceof the invention bent at a 45 angle to itself to effect sealing of thepillow.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the valving deviceof the invention bent over on itself, with a slit in the heat sealedportion of the pillow just above the valve, to effect sealing of thepillow.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, but shows the valving device bent over onitself twice to ensure a leakproof seal of the pillow.

FIG. 7 shows the valving device sealed as in FIG. 4, but with an innerair channel that extends almost all the way down one edge of the pillow.

FIG. 8 shows the valving device sealed by tying a knot in it.

FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. I but with an inner air channel that extendsalmost all the way downone edge of the pillow.

While the present invention is susceptible of various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Turning now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. I adisposable, inflatable pillow, generally indicated at 10, which in theexemplary form of the invention here shown includes walls of a bilayeredsheet material 11 whose edges have been heat sealed to form a fluidcompartment, generally indicated at 12. As shown in FIG. 2, thebilayered sheet material II comprises an outer layer of nonwoven fibrousmaterial 14 having a texturally soft exterior surface 15, on to whichhas been extruded an inner layerof airtight polyethylene film 16. It isthis inner layer of polyethylene film 16 that is utilized during theheat-sealing operation. In forming the pillow compartment, two separatesheets of bilayered material or one large sheet folded in half may beemployed.

In accordance with one of the important aspects of this invention,provision is made for inflating or deflating and sealing an inflatablepillow 10 through a valving device 17 which comprises a tube 19 that hasbeen inserted into the inflatable pillow 10 so that it is disposedbetween the walls of bilayered sheet material 11 with one end portion ofthe tube 19 extending inwardly beyond the heat sealed edges of thedisposable pillow into the fluid compartment 12, and with the other endportion of tube 19 extending outwardly beyond the sealed edges of thedisposable pillow for providing fluid communication with the pillowcompartment. If it is desired, tube 19 can be coated with athermoplastic material or heat activatable adhesive to facilitate heatsealing it to the inner polyethylene film layer 16 of the bilayeredsheets 11. After inflation, the tube I9 and an adjacent portion ofbilayered sheet material, SIIOWT'I generally at 20, can be folded ateither a or 45 angle to collapse the tube 19 and form a fluidor airtightseal as is shown in FIGS. 4, 5,6, and 7.

When a 90 fold is being made, a slit 22 is made in the heat sealed edgeof the pillow as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This slit should extend fromthe edge of the pillow to a point not quite through the heat sealed edgeinto the fluid compartment and be parallel to the next adjacent sealededge of the pillow. In addition, the tube can also be folded first andthen the folded tube and adjacent portion of bilayered sheet materialcan be folded again to provide a double seal, as is shown in FIG. 6.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention this fluid orairtight seal is maintained by coating a predetennined area of theoutside surface of one of the sheets of the bilayered sheet materialadjacent to the tube 19 with a cohesive and then folding this coatedarea and the tube at a 45 or 90 angle to collapse the tube and thusadhere the cohesive-coated areas to each other and hold the tube in itcollapsed condition as is shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7. As analternative to the cohesive coating, a suitable double-faced tape couldbe used.

In FIGS. 7 and 9 there are illustrated variations on the sealingtechnique as described above. In this embodiment an air channel 21 isprovided inside the pillow between the heatsealed edges and the fluidcompartment 12 and extending down one of the sealed edges of the pillowadjacent to the valve tube 19 as shown in FIG. 9. The channel 21 isformed by a heat seal 23 that extends along one of heat-sealed edgesadjacent to the valving device, the edge being shown generally at 25(See FIG. 9). Heat seal 23 is parallel to edge 25. The heat seal 23extends to a point about an inch from the next pillow edge 24. Thechannel 21 is open at both ends allowing fluid to flow through the valveinto the channel and then into the compartment. to inflate it. The comer24 can then be folded, after inflation, and at a 45 angle to collapsethe end of the channel, and maintained in this folded position bycohesive or tape as was done with the valve corner to provide a secondseal of the pillow. The other seal being that formed by the folded valveand adjacent bilayered material.

The valving device of the invention may be made of polyethylene straws,polypropylene straws, wax-coated paper straws or any other collapsibletubing material. However, in the preferred embodiment of the inventioninexpensive paper straw is used.

This paper straw, commercially available from the Sweetheart PaperCompany of Baltimore, Maryland, is coated with a wax having a meltingpoint of 192 F. The wax-coated paper straw can be completely collapsedto give a tight, crisp, nonleaking seal. The seal obtained with thecollapsed waxcoated paper straw is so crisp that the paper straw may bemerely folded, without folding an adjacent portion of bilayeredmaterial, and cohesively held to effect sealing of the pillow. It hasbeen found that when polyethylene or polypropylene straws are collapsedthey do not form as sharp a seal as does the wax-coated paper straw, andthat as a result some air seepsout of the inflated pillow compartmentthrough the collapsed straw. This is thought to be due to the fact thata drawn film, such as a polyethylene or polypropylene straw, has aspringing action, and does not completely collapse in the center whenfolded over. While the diameter of the tube used is not thought to betoo critical, and any diameter tubing that affords an airtight seal whencollapsed may be employed in practicing the invention, in the preferredembodiment a waxcoated paper straw having an outside diameter of aboutonefourth inch is used.

The valving device of the invention may also be sealed by tying it off.This is illustrated in FIG. 8. While the seal thus fonned is effective,this method of sealing the valving device has certain disadvantages overthe methods illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The knot isdifficult to untie and thus it is not easy to deflate the pillow. Afterthe knot has been untied, the valving device is usually so crumpled thatreinflation of the pillow is difficult. in addition, it has been foundthat unless care is taken while tying the knot, the valving device orpillow material may be torn and render the pillow unusable.

I claim as my invention:

1. An improved valve device for an inflatable pillow or the likecomprising two sheets of flexible material sealed to each other aroundthe edges thereof to form a fluid compartment, said improved valvedevice comprising tube means disposed between said two sheets with oneend portion of the tube means extending inwardly beyond said sealededges and the other end portion extending outwardly beyond said sealededges for providing fluid communication with said fluid compartment, theintermediate portion of said tube means being sealed to said sheets toprovide a fluid seal between said tube means and each of said sheets,said tube means being arranged so that folding said tube means and anadjacent portion of said sheets collapses said tube means and therebyeffectively seals the space between said sheets, and means for holdingsaid tube means and said adjacent portion in the folded position tomaintain said fluid seal.

2. An improved valve device for an inflatable pillow or the likecomprising two sheets of flexible material sealed to each other aroundthe edges thereof to form a fluid compartment, said improved valvedevice comprising tube means disposed between said two sheets with oneend portion of the tube means extending inwardly beyond said sealededges and the other end portion extending outwardly beyond said sealededges for providing fluid communication with said fluid compartment, anintermediate portion of said tube means being sealed to said sheets toprovide a fluid seal between said tube means and each of said sheets,said tube means constructed of paper and arranged so that folding thetube means and an adjacent portion of said sheets collapses the paperthereby effectively seals the space between the two sheets, and meansfor holding said tube means and said adjacent sheet portion in saidfolded position to maintain said fluid seal.

3. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tubemeans and an adjacent portion of said sheets are folded at a 45 angle.

4. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tubemeans and an adjacent portion of said sheets including a slit in saidadjacent portion are folded at a angle.

5. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tubemeans is folded on itself and then said tube means and an adjacentportion of said sheets are folded to collapse the paper and therebyeffectively seal the space between the two sheets.

6. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein at least theinside surfaces of said sheets of flexible material are made of athermoplastic material, and said sheets are bonded to each other byheat-sealing the thermoplastic material on the opposed inside surfacesthereof around the edges of the sheets, and said thermoplastic materialis also heat-sealed to the intermediate portion of said tube means toprovide said fluid seal between said tube means and each of said sheets.

7. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said papertube means is coated with a thermoplastic material to facilitate theheat sealing thereof to said thermoplastic material on said sheets.

8. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein apredetermined area of the outside surface of one of said sheets iscoated with a cohesive adjacent to said tube means, and said tube meansand said coated area are folded to collapse said tube means and toadhere different portions of said cohesive-coated area to each other tohold said tube means in its collapsed condition.

9. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein a channel isprovided inside said inflatable pillow between said sealed edges andsaid pillow compartment and extending along said sealed edge adjacent tosaid valve device, said channel having open ends to allow fluid to passthrough said valve device, through said channel and into said pillowcompartment, said channel being sealed by folding the comer of saidpillow adjacent to said open end to collapse it.

1. An improved valve device for an inflatable pillow or the likecomprising two sheets of flexible material sealed to each other aroundthe edges thereof to form a fluid compartment, said improved valvedevice comprising tube means disposed between said two sheets with oneend portion of the tube means extending inwardly beyond said sealededges and the other end portion extending outwardly beyond said sealededges for providing fluid communication with said fluid compartment, theintermediate portion of said tube means being sealed to said sheets toprovide a fluid seal between said tube means and each of said sheets,said tube means being arranged so that folding said tube means and anadjacent portion of said sheets collapses said tube means and therebyeffectively seals the space between said sheets, and means for holdingsaid tube means and said adjacent portion in the folded position tomaintain said fluid seal.
 2. An improved valve device for an inflatablepillow or the like comprising two sheets of flexible material sealed toeach other around the edges thereof to form a fluid compartment, saidimproved valve device comprising tube means disposed between said twosheets with one end portion of the tube means extending inwardly beyondsaid sealed edges and the other end portion extending outwardly beyondsaid sealed edges for providing fluid communication with said fluidcompartment, an intermediate portion of said tube means being sealed tosaid sheets to provide a fluid seal between said tube means and each ofsaid sheets, said tube means constructed of paper and arranged so thatfolding the tube means and an adjacent portion of said sheets collapsesthe paper thereby effectively seals the space between the two sheets,and means for holding said tube means and said adjacent sheet portion insaid folded position to maintain said fluid seal.
 3. An improved valvedevice as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tube means and an adjacentportion of said sheets are folded at a 45* angle.
 4. An improved valvedevice as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tube means and an adjacentportion of said sheets including a slit in said adjacent portion arefolded at a 90* angle.
 5. An improved valve device as set forth in claim2 wherein the tube means is folded on itself and then said tube meansand an adjacent portion of said sheets are folded to collapse the paperand thereby effectively seal the space between the two sheets.
 6. Animproved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein at least theinside surfaces of said sheets of flexible material are made of athermoplastic material, and said sheets are bonded to each other byheat-sealing the thermoplastic material on the opposed inside surfacesthereof around the edges of the sheets, and said thermoplastic materialis also heat-sealed to the intermediate portion of said tube means toprovide said fluid seal between said tube means and each of said sheets.7. An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said papertube means is coated with a thermoplastic material to facilitate theheat sealing thereof to said thermoplastic material on said sheets. 8.An improved valve device as set forth in claim 2 wherein a predeterminedarea of the outside surface of one of said sheets is coated with acohesive adjacent to said tube means, and said tube means and saidcoated area are folded to collapse said tube means and to adheredifferent portions of said cohesive-coated area to each other to holdsaid tube means in its collapsed condition.
 9. An improved valve deviceas set forth in claim 2 wherein a channel is provided inside saidinflatable pillow between said sealed edges and said pillow compartmentand extending along said sealed edge adjacent to said valve device, saidchannel having open ends to allow fluid to pass through said valvedevice, through said channel and into said pillow compartment, saidchannel being sealed by folding the corner of said pillow adjacent tosaid open end to collapse it.